Cancer stem cells (CSCs) in most human tumors are commonly identified and enriched using similar strategies for identifying normal stem cells, including flow cytometry assays for side population, high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity, and CD133 positivity. Thus, development of a method for isolating a specific cancer using cancer-specific characteristic appears ...

Akt2 overexpression correlates with chemoresistance of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the cellular functions and precise signals elicited by Akt2 in LSCC have not been elucidated. Here, we transfected a CRC cell line HCT116 with Akt-2 targeted shRNA in order to establish a cell line with Akt2 knockdown. In vitro experiments ...

Abstract Purpose: To improve risk assessments associated with chronic exposure to Strontium-90 (Sr-90), for both the environment and human health, it is necessary to know the energy distribution in specific cells or tissue. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations codes are extremely useful tools for calculating deposition energy. The present work is ...

Abstract There can be significant variability between bioreactivity studies of nanomaterials that are apparently the same, possibly reflecting differences in the models used and differing sources of experimental material. In this study, we have generated two crystal forms of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2), pure anatase and pure rutile to address ...

Lithium chloride (LiCl), which is a specific inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3β, is known to induce cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and to regulate apoptosis. To determine the potential of LiCl as a chemical additive to enhance specific productivity (q p) of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells ...

Dicer and Argonaute2 (Ago2) are critical components responsible not only for RNA interference but also for microRNA synthesis. The present study investigated the roles of Dicer and Ago2 in prostate cancer (Pca). First, the expression levels of Dicer and Ago2 in Pca tissues were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and compared ...

Real-time measurement of intracellular pH in live cells is of great importance for understanding physiological/pathological processes and developing intracellular drug delivery systems. We report here the first use of nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) for intracellular pH sensing in live cells. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was covalently conjugated to a UiO NMOF ...

Classic functions of the actin cytoskeleton include control of cell size and shape and the internal organization of cells. These functions are manifest in cellular processes of fundamental importance throughout biology such as the generation of cell polarity, cell migration, cell adhesion, and cell division. However, studies in the unicellular ...

The concentration-dependent effect of spermine was investigated on the spermine-induced generation of multilayer myotube sheets (MMTS) from mouse embryoid bodies (EBs). During spermine treatment for 24 h, a monolayer cell sheet that had already grown radially from the periphery of an EB was exfoliated. The exfoliation was inhibited by z-VAD.fmk, indicating ...

Cells generate mechanical stresses via the action of myosin motors on the actin cytoskeleton. Although the molecular origin of force generation is well understood, we currently lack an understanding of the regulation of force transmission at cellular length scales. Here, using 3T3 fibroblasts, we experimentally decouple the effects of substrate ...

While substrates with nanopillars (NPs) have emerged as promising platforms for isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), the influence of diameter and spacing of NPs on CTC capture is still unclear. In this paper, CTC-capture yield and cell behaviors have been investigated by using antibody functionalized NPs of various diameters ...

Differentiation of pluripotent cells into endoderm related cell types initially requires in vitro gastrulation into the definitive endoderm. Most differentiation protocols are initiated from colonies of pluripotent cells complicating their adaption due to insufficiently defined starting conditions. The protocol described here was initiated from a defined cell number of dispersed ...

Alex Jimi M JM Laboratory for Drug Design and Synthesis, Centre for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, - - 2014

A series of 17 analogs of 1-acetyl-4,5-dihydro(1H)pyrazoles (JP-1 to JP-17) bearing two aromatic rings at positions 3 and 5, either of which ought to be heterocyclic, were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-proliferative potential against breast cancer (MCF-7 and T-47D) and lung cancer (H-460 and A-549) cell lines for the ...

The endeavor of exploiting arrays of vertical one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures (NSs) for cellular applications has recently been experiencing a pronounced surge of activity. The interest is rooted in the intrinsic properties of high-aspect-ratio NSs. With a height comparable to a mammalian cell, and a diameter 100-1000 times smaller, NSs should ...

Thomas A A IBR West Extension, School of Cancer Sciences, College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, - - 2014

Topoisomerase inhibitors are in common use as chemotherapeutic agents although they can display reduced efficacy in chemotherapy-resistant tumours, which have inactivated DNA damage response (DDR) genes, such as ATM and TP53. Here, we characterise the cellular response to the dual-acting agent, Alchemix (ALX), which is a modified anthraquinone that functions ...

Adult human pancreatic β cells are refractory to current therapeutic approaches to enhance proliferation. This reluctance to expand is problematic, especially for people with diabetes who lack sufficient numbers of functional insulin-producing β cells and could therefore benefit from therapies for β cell expansion. In this issue of the JCI, ...

Brand Toni M TM Department of Human Oncology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, - - 2014

The EGFR antibody cetuximab is used to treat numerous cancers, but intrinsic and acquired resistance to this agent is a common clinical outcome. In this study, we show that overexpression of the oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase AXL is sufficient to mediate acquired resistance to cetuximab in models of non-small cell ...

Sulforaphane, an isothiocyanate from cruciferous vegetable, counteracts malignancy. The effect is at least in part due to stimulation of suicidal death or apoptosis of tumour cells. Mechanisms invoked in sulforaphane-induced apoptosis include mitochondrial depolarization and altered gene expression. Even though lacking mitochondria and nuclei, erythrocytes may, similar to apoptosis of ...

Cephalotaxus spp. are known to possess anticancer potential. In this present work, for the first time the effects of C. griffithii needle (CGN) extracts on human cancer cells were examined. The CGN was successively extracted with petroleum ether (PE), acetone and methanol. The extracts were tested for its effect on ...

The pseudostratified airway epithelium of the lung contains a balanced proportion of multiciliated and secretory luminal cells that are maintained and regenerated by a population of basal stem cells. However, little is known about how these processes are modulated in vivo, and about the potential role of cytokine signaling between ...

Mitotic proteins are attractive targets to develop molecular cancer therapeutics due to the intimate interdependence between cell proliferation and mitosis. In this work, we have explored the therapeutic potential of the kinetochore (KT) protein Hec1 (Highly Expressed in Cancer protein 1) as a molecular target to produce massive chromosome missegregation ...

Polymers and oligomers with conjugated phenylene ethynylene or thiophene ethynylene backbones have been shown to be potent antimicrobials. The mechanisms by which they act have been unclear, though AFM imaging of Escherichia coli cells before and after exposure to two such biocides, PPE-Th polymer and EO-OPE-1(C3), show their effects on ...

Aim:Crotoxin (CrTX) is the primary toxin in South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus) venom, and exhibits antitumor and other pharmacological actions in vivo and in vitro. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of the antitumor action of CrTX in human lung carcinoma cells in vitro.Methods:Human lung squamous carcinoma SK-MES-1 cells ...

Ceramide kinase (CerK) catalyzes the generation of ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) which may regulate various cellular functions, including inflammatory reactions and cell growth. Here, we studied the effect of a recently developed CerK inhibitor, NVP-231, on cancer cell proliferation and viability, and investigated the role of cell cycle regulators implicated in these ...

Aligned microtubule arrays spatially organize cell division, trafficking, and determine the direction of cell expansion in plant cells. In response to changes in environmental and developmental signals, cells reorganize their microtubule arrays into new configurations. Here, we tested the role of microtubule nucleation during hormone-induced microtubule array reorientation. We have ...

Studies in the Drosophila embryonic NB4-2 lineage have suggested that the transcription factor Klumpfuss (Klu) functions within embryonic neuroblast lineages to differentiate between the identities of two adjacent ganglion mother cells (GMCs). However, because of the limited lineage markers available, these observations have been made only for the NB4-2 lineage. ...

During cancer progression, malignant cells in the tumour invade surrounding tissues. This transformation of adherent cells to a motile phenotype has been associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Here, we show that EMT-activated cells migrate through micropillar arrays as a collectively advancing front that scatters individual cells. Individual cells with ...

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy resulting from the deposition of misfolded amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide in the walls of brain's blood vessels is exhibited by the majority of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, suggesting that alterations in protein quality control contribute to AD-associated vascular dysfunction. The present work addressed the role of ER ...

S100β-positive cells, which do not express the classical pituitary hormones, appear to possess multifunctional properties and are assumed to be heterogeneous in the anterior pituitary gland. The presence of several protein markers has shown that S100β-positive cells are composed of populations such as stem/progenitor cells, epithelial cells, astrocytes and dendritic ...

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play a critical role in the proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of cancer cells. An obstacle for the application of HDAC inhibitors as effective anti-cancer therapeutics is that our current knowledge on the contributions of different HDACs in various cancer types remains scarce. The present study reported that ...

The aim of radiotherapy is to eradicate cancer cells with ionizing radiation; tumor cell death following irradiation can be induced by several signaling pathways, most of which are triggered as a consequence of DNA damage, the primary and major relevant cell response to radiation. Several lines of evidence demonstrated that ...

The survival rate for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not seen marked improvement in recent decades despite enhanced efforts in prevention and the introduction of novel therapies. We have reported that pharmacological exacerbation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is an effective approach to killing OSCC cells. ...

In this report, the transport of ginkgolides with different lipophilicities was investigated using an hCMEC/D3 cell monolayer as a blood-brain barrier (BBB) cell model in vitro in an attempt to explain ginkgolide transport path mediated by lipophilicity. The log P values of ginkgolides were determined by measuring the distribution of ...

A series of experiments was conducted to investigate migration, proliferation and differentiation of gonadal germ cells (GGCs) collected from the gonads of 7-day-old chick embryos under cross-sex germline chimera conditions. The migratory and proliferative abilities of exogenous GGCs were examined by transferring 50 fluorescently labeled GGCs collected from White Leghorn ...

Regions within solid tumours often experience oxygen deprivation, which is associated with resistance to chemotherapy and irradiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiosensitising effect of gemcitabine and its main metabolite dFdU under normoxia versus hypoxia and to determine whether hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is involved in ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as important posttranscriptional regulators involved in various biological and pathological processes of cells, but their association with tumor chemoresistance has not been fully understood. We detected miR-27a expression in two lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, A549 and A549/CDDP, and then investigated the effects of miR-27a on ...

We aimed to study the post-translational regulation of CD151 by the microRNA miR-152. CD151 is highly expressed in gastric cancer (GC) and has been shown to accelerate GC by enhancing invasion and metastasis; however, its regulation is still unclear. Our results showed decreased expression of miR-152 in GC tissue samples ...

Improvement of methods to produce endoderm-derived cells from pluripotent stem cells is important to realize high-efficient induction of endodermal tissues such as pancreas and hepatocyte. Difficulties hampering such efforts include the low efficiency of definitive endoderm cell induction and establishing appropriate defined culture conditions to ensure a safe cell source ...

The spatial and temporal organization of T cell signaling molecules is increasingly accepted as a crucial step in controlling T cell activation. CD222, also known as the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor, is the central component of endosomal transport pathways. In this study, we show that CD222 is ...

Saponins of several herbs are known to induce apoptosis in many cancer cells. The present study aimed to investigate the growth inhibitory effect of Paris saponin VII (PS VII), a kind of steroidal saponins from Chonglou (Rhizoma Paridis Chonglou), on the human cervical cancer cell line Hela and the relative ...

Two carbazole-based small molecule hole-transport materials (HTMs) are synthesized and investigated in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ssDSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The HTM X51-based devices exhibit high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 6.0% and 9.8% in ssDSCs and PSCs, respectively. These results are superior or comparable to those of ...